After numerous team visits the past two weeks, former Bills offensive tackle Demetrius Bell has a new home. And a new name, apparently.
Bell reportedly signed a five-year, $35 million contract Wednesday with the Eagles, who were the front runners to signing a deal with Bell since the injury of tackle Jason Peters was announced.
“Demetrius was one of the top free-agent offensive linemen available this year and we are happy to be able to add him to our squad,” Philly coach Andy Reid said in a press release. “We had a chance to meet him over the weekend and study him extensively on tape and we came away quite impressed with what we saw and heard. He’s a great athlete.”
Bell made 30 starts for Buffalo in his three-year stint, missing numerous games in 2011 due to a collar bone injury and in ’09 for knee issues.
Bell’s return to the Bills seemed unlikely after visits to five different teams in search of a bigger contract, not to mention general manager Buddy Nix’s comment more than a week ago when he stated, “Chris Hairston did a good job for us, and we think he can handle it (the starting tackle role). We’re not concerned about it.”
More surprising than Bell’s departure was the spelling disparity in his first name when he inked the deal with Philadelphia. The tackle spelled his name “Demetress.” The reason being, according to buffalobills.com’s Chris Brown, is that Bell recently found out that is how his name appears on his birth certificate; his mother had been misspelling from the start.
Either way, Bell’s fresh start, both team and name, means Buffalo may have to rethink their plans for their No. 1 pick in the draft, especially if they had started to lean in the wide receiver direction. With Hairston and Andy Levitre as options to replace Bell at left tackle, the Bills may now shift their draft focus solely on picking up an instant starter on the offensive line, namely Iowa’s Riley Reiff or Stanford’s Jonathon Martin. Ohio State’s Mike Adams may enter that list as well, visiting with the Bills Wednesday and projected to go in the first round.
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